In a blow to the networking, security, and wardriving hobbyist communities today, Google has officially marked their decision to throttle wifi scanning for non-Google software on Android 9 and up as "Won't Fix" in spite of popular community support for a configurable option.

They've variously attributed this decision to "battery life" and "privacy," but in point of fact, this decision establishes a de-facto data monopoly for their internal WiGLE-equivalent database, and eliminates useful functionality from their platform. WiGLE will continue to support WiGLE WiFi Wardriving on as wide a range of legacy (scan-enabled) Android devices as possible, as well as exploring modifications to FOSS Android codelines to remove this anti-competitive change. We will continue our mission of security education and awareness, and will pursue Bluetooth, WiFi, and Cell data collection by all means at our disposal.

WOW ! Big news there.
So I'm happy I've come back. Been away a few years from Wigle...don't know why...but now back !
So ... question immediately...what is the "...their internal WiGLE-equivalent database" ?
And...maybe it's time to cook a customer ROM for older Androind phones ? I still have a Galaxy S2 and am sure many people around has kept older working phones.... I suggest to start (if not done already) a project for a dedicated custom ROM for a "light" Andriod. Data is optional. We just need WiFi and GPS support. To do Wigle ! Is it a good idea ?

You seem to have stirred the sh!t well, based on the number of comments flowing into buganizer in the past several days...my mailbox is overflowing with all the expressions of joy <sarcasm> at this decision from Google.

Hopefully the public outcry makes some difference and they walk back the decision in some fashion.

What do we do if they won't listen ? We don't upgrade phones. Maybe. But if I buy a new phone... then ? I have to mount a cooked ROM ? And will there be any (old enough) that keep this WiFi scannning functionality ?
Thanks

No one has done a kernel level fix that we're aware of. It's possible to approximate a fix on Pie by split-screen running the Settings "WiFi List" tool with WiGLE WiFi, since Google exempted their own apps from the limit.

WiGLE respects your privacy. To have records of your access point removed from our database, or if you have any questions or suggestions, send an email to: WiGLE-admin[at]WiGLE.net
(please include BSSID (MAC) in removal requests). We're also on IRC: at WiGLE.net:6667